Turn with me to Acts chapter
20. Acts chapter 20. The Apostle Paul's days were
drawing to an end. This great man, and I say that
in its proper context, Paul was a man, he'd be the first to admit
that. Wasn't any different than any
other man. But God enabled him, he called the chief of sinners,
that's how he referred to himself, the chief of sinners, to demonstrate
the greatness of his power and grace. And he took a man this
old Pharisee, who caused suffering and hurt and death and persecuted
the Church of God in ignorance. And he raised that man up and
caused him to write half of the New Testament. Made this man
the greatest missionary this world has ever known. Established
more churches under this man than any other. And now this
man's life is drawing to a close. And he felt in his heart that
this was the last time, this side of eternity, that he'd see
his beloved brethren at Ephesus. There's gonna be a last time. Might be today. Might be today. I was talking with a dear friend
of mine, Bruce Gresham, over in Marigold, Mississippi. Don's
known him for years. And he'd been after me to come
hold a meeting for him for a long time. And I said, well, I'm scheduled
to go to Van Buren, and as soon as I come home, we'll set a time,
and I'll come over and we'll hold a meeting. I got an email
from Don Saturday evening. Bruce was dead. Sunday before he preached his
last message. There's going to be a last time.
Going to be a last time. Could be this morning. Could
be. I'll stand up and speak and then
this tongue will be silenced from this world forever. Going
to be a last time. And the man who knows that and
believes that will choose his words carefully. We're told to
think on these things and be aware of these things. If I knew
for sure I'd never see your face again, what would I tell you? What would I say? Well, I hope
I'd say what Paul said to this beloved church. Look down here
with me in Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 20. I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have showed you and have
taught you publicly and from house to house. I didn't say
one thing from the pulpit and another thing at the dinner table.
What I said from here, I said out there. Testifying both to
the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. But I do know this, the Holy
Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions
abide in me. But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy." What on earth is he talking about? I don't know if you were there
that evening. I think you were. I think it was you and Henry
that was holding a conference for us down in Ball years ago. And I made this statement to
Henry, I can't find any reason for a believer to be left in
this world. We're as holy as we're going
to get. We're as righteous as we're going to get. I'm as justified
as I'm ever going to be. So why does he leave me in this
world? Because he has a purpose. and that purpose is to call out
his elect. That's why this church is here.
That's why this pastor's here. That's why I'm here tonight preaching
to you. And that's what Paul's talking about here. None of these
things move me. Neither count I my life dear
unto myself so that I might finish my course. I have a course, don't
you? And the ministry which I've received
of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye
all among whom I've gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see
my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God." What a statement. Now what's
Paul talking about when he said the whole counsel of God? I believe he's talking about
God's everlasting purpose to save a people for the glory of
His name. That's God's counsel. That's
God's counsel. He's talking about His purpose
of grace to redeem chosen sinners through the person and work of
His dear Son. That's God's counsel. That's
why He created this world. That's why He preserves this
world. And as Don told us the other night, that's why it rains
only just and unjust. In Ephesians chapter 1 he addresses
this very church, this Ephesians church, telling them that God
the Father chose a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. He chose them and blessed them
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, according as He's chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. He predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. He made them
accepted in the beloved, verse 6. Gave them redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, verse 7. Abounded toward
them in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto them the mystery
of His will, verses 8 and 9. Told them that Christ is all
and that all things shall be brought to show that very thing,
gathered together in Him in that day. Verse 11, in whom also we
have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him, now listen to this, who worketh all things
after the, what? Council of his own. What is the whole council of
God? It's God's everlasting purpose
to save a people. by the person and work of Jesus
Christ with the glory of his great name. When Pilate and Herod
with the Gentiles and all the people of Israel gathered together
to crucify the Son of God, Acts chapter 4 verse 28 says they
did what God's hand and God's counsel determined before to
be done. In Acts chapter 2 verse 23 it
says Jesus Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. And then speaking of the promised
seed of Abraham, his promised redemption in Christ, he says
that God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability of his counsel. Confirmed it with a note. So that by God's promise and
God's oath, and it being impossible for God to lie, we have a strong
consolation who fled for refuge to lay hold on the help set before
us. The man who is called of God
is called to declare to man to men, to whoever it is that God
arranges him to stand before, the whole purpose of God in redemption
through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's purpose. God saves
men on purpose. Don't you wish you could find
somebody to believe that? God saves men on purpose. I was preaching that one morning
and well it came to me and he said let me just uh... give you
a hypothetical situation boy I hate it when people say that he said we were out here hunting
and he said and my partner and I we got a little distance between
us there and the brush and I heard this stirring and I thought I
seen some antlers and I shot but I shot my buddy and he called
out and I ran over he said you mean to tell me he's laying there
bleeding to death he said you mean tell me i couldn't preach
the gospel to him you mean to tell me that that man would need
a preacher to come preach to him and i said well before i
answer that let me ask you a question he said go ahead i said does
god save men on purpose or by accident he thought about it for a few
minutes he said on purpose I said there used to be a big sign in
contractor sales at the lumber company where I used to buy my
lumber and it said negligence on your part does not constitute
an emergency on my part. If you read Proverbs chapter
1, I think you'll figure that out. God saves men on purpose. Everything He does is according
to that purpose. This world is created to show
that. Everything about it. Go back
to Genesis chapter 1 and look at those things and see if those
things don't picture the redemption of His people all the way through.
Light. Let there be light. What's the
first thing that happens in the heart of a believer? Light. Light. Resurrection. The land and water
was divided. He gathered that into its place. On and on and on it goes. Everything.
Everything in there pictures this salvation. This world is
created for this purpose and to this end. And everything in
it, somewhere or another, pictures that. Paul's own words. He said, I
kept nothing back. I kept nothing back that I might
finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received
of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of
God. What does it mean to testify? It means a solemn declaration,
to be called up before men and God to tell the truth. It means
to bring to light certain things unknown. It means to bear witness
of the truth. So how does one go about declaring
the whole counsel of God? Well, I believe I can sum it
up with five solemn truths, five indisputable facts of which this
present evil world are ignorant or are in total denial, if not
both. And I want to begin this morning
with this. Let me start where God starts.
That man is condemned of God by the fall of Adam, and is cursed
with a fallen nature, and if left to himself, there's no hope
for him. Man's in trouble. He's in trouble. He don't know it. He don't know
it. I told our folks the other day,
I said, we talk about the fall and men just look at you like
you're from Venus or somewhere. They don't know what you're talking
about. But they've never fallen. That's why they don't know anything
about the fall. They were born that way. We come forth from
the womb speaking lies. Seems natural to us. Everything
we do is natural. Rebellion toward God is natural. I gave that illustration. I said,
you can go back here in the back. Take all the children back there,
all the little ones. Take them back there and have
every toy known to man back there. So y'all just get whatever you
want to play with. But now listen, don't go in that
door. You parents, where are they going
to go first? In that door. And the lady told me, she said,
well that's just natural. I said, that's what I'm trying
to tell you. Everything we do is natural.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, and we think these things are natural. And because they're
natural, we don't see any problem with them. We don't understand
that we're in trouble. Man's in trouble. He knows nothing
but sin. He learns nothing but what sinners
teach him. He's alienated, the Scripture
said, from the life of God by reason of his nature. He loves
darkness rather than light. He's consumed by his own depraved
nature. He calls darkness light and light
darkness. His passions and lust are altogether
sin. His whole life is spent practicing
sin. He's a practicing sinner. And
with all of his being, he resists the light of his conscience and
the light of creation. until he becomes, as the scripture
describes it, past feeling. Past feeling. So that he sins
without regret. The scripture said that the natural
man walks in the vanity of his mind. He believes that he himself
and all of his family and all of his kids are of great value. The Word of God said they all
together become unprofitable. All the sons of men. See man at his best state. See
man with the Word of God in his hand. See him transcribing the
Word of God so that others can read it. See him in his priestly
robe. See him in the church. See him
encompassing. See him laying to make proselytes
after himself. See him enforcing the law. See
him in a professed union with God. Now see that same man, that
man at his best state. See him denying the Son of God. See Him rejecting the salvation
of God, turning away from the light back to His darkness. See
His hatred for Him who did Him no wrong. See His enmity for
Him who did Him nothing but good. Why? Why did they hate the Son
of God? Why did man hate Him who could
do no wrong? Why did they hate the Son of
God? They hated Me without a cause. That's what the Scripture says. Can you not see the nature of
man unveiled at Calvary, spitting upon the face of the Savior,
slapping his face, mocking his name, laughing at him while he
died in agony on that cross? And what of our depravity? Can
we not see our hatred for God and our rebellion against the
gospel of Christ? Where in all the doctrines of
the grace of God is any reason for unbelief? I'm telling you this, if I'd
be faithful and hold nothing back, be faithful to my calling
and faithful to my Lord, I must tell men and women the truth
about sin. There's no hope for you except
God intervenes. And when God intervenes, he leads
a man, he teaches a man, he draws a man to his beloved son. And he gives him eyes to see
his glory and a heart to feel his love. Gives him feet to follow
him. Oh my soul, and if God don't
intervene, man is as sure for hell as if he were already there.
listen to the scriptures he that believe it not the son shall
not see life you'll never see it let me tell you what he's
going to do he's going to wander around until he finds something
that appeals to his fallen nature and he's going to settle down
and that's where he's going to stay That's reprobation. God turns
you over to yourself. You want to worship frogs? Here's
a frog. You want to worship man? Here's
a man. You want to worship your free will? Here's your free will. Turns him over to himself. He that believeth not the sun
shall not see light, but the wrath of God abideth. Brethren, we need to open our
eyes. These men and women out here in these churches who are
drinking in this false doctrine, this anti-Christ religion, that's
the wrath of God abiding on them, the wrath of God. Paul said there
in Ephesians chapter 2, he said that's where God found us. Every
last one of us, he found us there. walking according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
that spirit of disobedience, spirit who even now worketh in
the children of disobedience. And we were by nature children
of wrath even as others. And then the second thing that
I must preach if I'm going to declare unto you the whole counsel
of God is that God has purposed to save a people out of Adam's
condemned race for the glory of his name. You cannot see the
beauty of election until God gives you eyes to see yourself
for what you are. Try to picture yourself. Do you
know who Mephibosheth was? He was the last of Saul's. All
the rest of them been put to death. And they led old Mephibosheth,
lame on his feet, led him down there to David's palace. And he thought, boy, he's gonna
make a special example out of me. And I deserve it. And he brought old Mephibosheth
in, and Mephibosheth thought, this is it for me. This is it
for me. And he came in and David said,
clean him up. Clean him up. And you take him over at that
table. That's my table. I prepared him a place and he's
going to eat with the king until he dies. And he's going to stay
right here in my house. Huh? That's election. Picture old Barabbas sitting
down in that cell. That old cold dungeon down there.
And he's hearing the crowd outside, but he can't hear everything
that's going on. He just hears them when the jeers and things
got high, then he could hear them. And he heard them out there,
give us Barabbas! Give us Barabbas! crucify him! crucify him! and he hears the steps here comes
his soldier down that aisle swing open that dungeon door and God
went over and unlocked his bonds and took him by the hand and
led him back up that aisle and when they come out into the daylight
they said you're free to go what do you mean I'm free to
go? and others have been chosen to die in yours. That's election. I tell you, if God ever gives
you eyes to see who you are and what you are and where you are,
oh, election will be open door then. Oh, I'm glad God chose
a people. I'm glad he didn't leave us to
ourselves. We'd be like Sodom and Gomorrah,
except God had reserved a remnant. Always good news to sinners.
It don't do much for a self-righteous man. That ain't fair, you see. Oh, I'm telling you, but you
take that old sinner and he sees election. Oh, what a joy it is
to him. What a joy. God's election is
an election of grace. It's an election of grace. And
God did choose a people. and not to a chance of salvation
but to the certainty of it. He said God had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. That's how that verse was written.
You think old Barabbas resisted because he was chosen to go free?
Oh, I think he jumped up and down. Neither were you if he ever shows
you the prison in which we've been bound. God's people have always been
called His elect. Always have. Always have. When
the Son of Man comes in clouds of great glory and power, then
shall He send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet.
And they shall gather together all men. That ain't what that
says. They shall gather His elect. from one end of heaven to the
other. I love this over in Romans chapter 8. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. Justifies
who? His elect. Who is He that condemneth? Condemneth who? His elect. It's Christ that dies. Cannot be faithful to your souls
and ignore the doctrine of election. To ignore this doctrine would
be to deny the very purpose of God and salvation. And then the
third thing I must preach to those whom the Lord arranges
to hear me is that God can only save sinners in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. I remember going to an Armenian
church one time and they had a little blackboard up front.
And this guy began to talk about, thou shalt not murder. He put
a mark on there. He said, thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not steal. He put
another mark on there. Now he said, here's salvation.
He took out an eraser and erased them marks. God gives you a clean
slate. My friend, if you're in Christ,
if he chose you in Christ, then there was a mark. All those marks were put on his
count. God can't simply erase sin. God
can't wink at sin. God can't just say, well, you're
forgiven, take off. Sin has to be paid for. Justice
has to be satisfied. And when Christ came, that's
what he did. That's what He did. He established. He lived out
for me what I couldn't do. He worked out for me what I couldn't
achieve. He provided me with a perfect
righteousness and then He went to the cross and He satisfied
divine justice. God killed His Son. Are you listening? Justly. And as much as men hate to hear
it, I'm telling you this, if he was not made sin, then God
was not just when he killed him. Read over in Proverbs what it
says. You kill an unjust man, or justify
a guilty man, it's an abomination to God. He justly killed his son, and
when he did, he satisfied. divine justice. God can only save sinners in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the propitiation for our
sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.
Oh, you saying Christ? No, I'm saying there's just one
propitiation. That's what that verse is talking
about. There's just one propitiation. I don't care who you are. I don't
care if you're a Jew or a Greek or Chinese or anything else.
There's just one propitiation for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord over in John 14 was
preparing his disciples for his absence. He was about to go to
the cross and then ascend into heaven to accomplish their salvation. And he said to him, he said,
I go to prepare a place for you in my father's house. And whether
I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said, hold on. Hold on a minute. Lord, we know
not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Thomas, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. It's all in Him. It's all in
Him. Jesus said unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man, no man cometh unto the
Father but by me. You're not coming to the Father
by your will and your works. You're not coming to the Father
by your empty promises and good intentions. You're not coming
to the Father by your obedience to the law. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. God can only save chosen sinners
by way of the person and work of Jesus Christ. There's not
one way for the Jew and another for the Christian. There's not
one way for the Catholic and another for the Protestant. There's
just one way, and Christ is the way. you'll come by way of his righteousness
and his blood or you won't come at all. You'll bow to his authority and
you'll serve him and be left or else God will leave you to
serve the God of this world. John said this is the record
Here it is, it's right here. This is the record that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. And
he that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. I'd be faithful to declare unto
you all the counsel of God. I must tell you that the only
way God can save sinners and still be God is in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then fourthly, to hold back
nothing profitable to you and declare the whole counsel of
God, I must tell you that the preaching of the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. Romans chapter 1 verse 16. God
doesn't reveal His mysteries to men in dreams of the night,
or out in the woods, or through some supernatural experience. God calls out His elect through
the preaching of the gospel. God's elect are chosen to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he calls them by his gospel. You can what about all
day long. You can what about all you want
to. You read the scriptures and you'll
see what I'm telling you, so. I can't even imagine the Lord
commanding his apostles and these early preachers to suffer the
atrocities that they suffered if there was any other means,
could you? It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Well, I was eight years old and
the Lord just turned the light on. I saw the light and I knew
I saved and I didn't read the scriptures and I never heard
a preacher pray. You're a liar. That's just how
that is. You may not know it, you may
believe that, but you're a liar. I say, let God be true and every
man a liar. Our Lord said to the 70 he sent
out to preach, he that heareth you, heareth me. He that despises
you, despises me. And in the light of that, listen
to this. Those Pharisees looked at Christ and they was aggravated.
They was aggravated because they couldn't They couldn't prove
him wrong. They was frustrated, more than
aggravated. They was frustrated. And they
said to him, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. I told you. Do you believe not,
because you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. He that
heareth you, heareth me. Now what that says? my sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life and they'll never perish. We've been studying 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and I was showing them in there these examples that
Paul gives about preachers and the Corinthian church were glorying
in men. Now Paul takes his time and he
tells you that this is the means of God. This is how God saves
sinners. There's nowhere in the Bible more clear than 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, 2, and 3 on that subject. But he gives examples and he
said, some of you say I'm of Paul. Some of you say I'm of
Apollos. And some of you say another thing
and some of you say I am of Christ. And when Paul goes on in that
chapter, you begin to see the reason why he chose those men. That man saved under the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ was no more converted than the man
who was saved under Apollos. He that heareth you, heareth
me. Huh? That's not too hard, is
it? He has the same authority. We
just have one authority, Christ. We just have one power, the power
of the Holy Spirit. And our Lord set the example
for us, and He honored that in all the men that He sent out
to preach, and He still honors it. And I'm telling you this, you
don't go to the hardware to get a hamburger, and you don't go
to a restaurant to buy names. You go where you know they have
what you need. And then lastly, if I would declare
unto you the whole counsel of God, I must tell you that we're
shut up to the sovereign work of the Holy Ghost. What is the
work of the Holy Spirit? The work of the Holy Spirit is
God working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
It's God working in you so that you can work out your own salvation
in fear and trembling. It's God working in conjunction
with the preaching of the gospel, convincing men of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment satisfied. The work of the Holy
Spirit is a regenerating work, giving us the ability the will,
the wisdom, and the power to receive Christ and believe on
his name and become the sons of God. What is the work of the
Spirit? His work is to lead us to Christ. As many as are led by the Spirit,
they are the sons of God. His work is to bear witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God, causing us to cry, Abba,
Abba. Be he preacher here, we're all
shut up to the sovereign work of the Holy Ghost. Oh, may he be pleased this morning to work in you and to work in
me and do in us what we could never do for ourselves. Shut
up to him. Our Father, take the message
this morning Use it for your glory. Use it to break the hearts of
proud sinners. Use it to whisper that loving
call to that broken man, that broken woman. Use it to whisper peace to our
hearts. Our fathers, our brothers stand
up here in a minute declares unto us again this glorious
gospel. All be pleased to bless him. Be pleased to pour out your spirit
upon our hearts that we might receive it in thanksgiving, that
we might glorify you forever. I ask it for Christ's sake.